Science for peace and development

 
The GIMUN 2013 Annual Conference theme aims to highlight the diversity of event participants. At a glance, this theme may seem somewhat cold and impersonal. However, this only goes to show that our daily work is not properly recognised in the world of international relations, a world that needs our contribution.

In 2001, UNESCO inaugurated the first Science Day for Peace and Development. These two areas are essential to the work of the UN. Indeed, they are tightly linked to advances in the most diverse research areas. Therefore, the annual celebration aims to make the public aware of the improvement of daily life depends on science. It is crucial for the world community to become aware of the importance of work that often remains in the shadows. Also, the world community must understand that science covers many facets. This is true for operational work as well as for the work we do at the Annual Conference.

The GIMUN Annual Conference is an event where many players come together and use their abilities to their advantage in order to facilitate communication and transparency during negotiations. The participants, students and trainee diplomats, are armed with a strong academic background. For them, the GIMUN simulation is a test laboratory where, for the first time, they can put to use the knowledge they have accumulated over the long hours spent toiling over a school desk. If the experience is positive and if the empirical data is conclusive, then it will be time to take on reality. Also, science is, of course, not just a test laboratory from a social point of view but from a technological one. Let us recall the interpreting system that is seen as common practice nowadays. We forget that the procedure is barely fifty years old. Years before the Internet existed, it made the simultaneous exchange of information possible. Let us also think of translation software, laptops, photocopiers, etc., in other words, so much technology without which a conference would not be possible today. And if we had no conference, it would be the collapse of a platform for exchange and this collapse would be accompanied by the communication that is so necessary for compromise and consensus.

Science for peace and development: a fair reward for everyone who contributes to the success of the Annual Conference, making us aware of our competencies so that we know how to optimise them.